It is generally recognized that apparel may sometimes serve a functional utilitarian purpose. At other times, apparel may serve a decorative purpose. Indeed, apparel may serve both a functional utilitarian purpose and a decorative purpose at the same time. While exceptions abound, it is safe to say that a large segment of the population prefers that wearing apparel serve the functional utilitarian purpose for which it was designed, while presenting at least a modicum of decorative appearance.
A woman, for example, may often don a brassiere (hereinafter “bra”) for its well known utilitarian purpose. She may then don an outer garment, e.g., a blouse, a dress, etc., which may serve a decorative as well as a utilitarian purpose to some extent, and may substantially or completely cover the bra.
Many bras are at least partially secured in the desired position via shoulder straps which pass across the woman's shoulders between a frontal portion of the bra and, for example, a back portion of the bra. At times an outer garment also may include relatively narrow shoulder strap portions that also extends across the woman's shoulders. The strap portions of the outer garment may be intended to completely cover the bra straps so that the bra straps are not visible.
Situations may occur where the strap portion of the outer garment may not adequately cover the bra strap. For example, the strap portion of the outer garment may itself be very narrow and barely cover the bra strap. In such a situation, arm movements may easily dislodge a bra strap that may have been tucked under an outer garment strap. Often it may be highly preferably that the bra strap remains hidden from view beneath the strap portion of the outer garment. It may be desirable for a woman to have a method that is both decorative and utilitarian to securely maintain a bra strap in a position that is substantially hidden from view beneath the outer garment.
Devices and methods for securing a clothing strap are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 7,959,489 B2 to Shaffstall (“the '489 patent”). The '489 patent discloses various devices intended to secure a bra strap beneath a strap of an outer garment. The various devices disclosed in the '489 patent include a number of so-called “weavable elements” intended to be interwoven with the straps of the bra and outer garment so as to secure the straps together. The '489 patent also discloses that various adornments may be attached to the weavable elements for aesthetic purposes.
While the devices and methods of the '489 patent may offer a way to secure an underlying bra strap to an overlying strap of an outer garment, this may be achieved only in a manner that may be unduly complicated for the user. For example, the devices disclosed in the '489 patent require that the user manually interweave the disclosed devices with the bra straps and garment straps. In the first instance, placing one of the disclosed devices in proper position may require some significant degree of manual dexterity. Secondly, one of the devices on one side of the user may be inadvertently applied in a way that is unsymmetrical relative to the device employed on the other side. Third, one of the devices may become misaligned relative to the other during use, for example with arm movements. In addition, applying the devices may present a significant challenge for elderly or other persons with arthritic hands.
The disclosed apparel accessory and securing method include improvements in known accessories and methods of the character described.